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jayeff · 11-05-2006, 07:37 AM

3 - 4 years ago, some webmasters realized that the quick way to grow a TGP was to buy traffic. Naturally they bought cheap, virtually worthless traffic, because that kept their investment down and meant their trade partners would be sending back more valuable traffic in exchange. A great scheme!

Except of course that the world doesn't stop turning, so it wasn't long before everyone and his brother began buying crap to build their sites. Surprise, surprise, productivity falls away and nowadays many are having to buy traffic constantly, just to stay in the game.

The end result is that no-one is getting good traffic for bad any more. They are all exchanging bad traffic, because the whole traffic pool is polluted. Hundreds of thousands of dollars which used to stay with TGP operators goes to traffic sellers, while at the same time income per visitor has dropped - I estimate - by at least 50% in the past 3 years. Not so smart after all...

Scumware is exactly the same. It provides an edge to those who participate, so long as they are in a small minority. But as soon as others get a hint that there is a profit to be made, the bandwagon will gather speed and before long, no-one but the scumware providers will be any better off.

It cannot be any other way because scumware does not generate a single extra sale for the market as a whole: all it does is divert traffic from one sponsor to another. Therefore every cent the scumware providers make, is straight off someone's bottom line: sponsors and affiliates alike. It is not just unethical to deal with scumware, it's plain dumb.

That's the objective viewpoint and I guess I'm not too surprised that relatively few seem to understand it. What does surprise me is the willingness of so many people to deal with sponsors who by any normal definition, are stealing from them. I cannot imagine, for example, meeting a sponsor at a show and not wanting to smack him in the mouth if I knew he was stealing so much as a cent from me. A thief is a thief. I don't care whether he empties the cash drawer or just takes some small change.

11-05-2006, 07:37 AM
jayeff Confirmed User Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 2,944	3 - 4 years ago, some webmasters realized that the quick way to grow a TGP was to buy traffic. Naturally they bought cheap, virtually worthless traffic, because that kept their investment down and meant their trade partners would be sending back more valuable traffic in exchange. A great scheme! Except of course that the world doesn't stop turning, so it wasn't long before everyone and his brother began buying crap to build their sites. Surprise, surprise, productivity falls away and nowadays many are having to buy traffic constantly, just to stay in the game. The end result is that no-one is getting good traffic for bad any more. They are all exchanging bad traffic, because the whole traffic pool is polluted. Hundreds of thousands of dollars which used to stay with TGP operators goes to traffic sellers, while at the same time income per visitor has dropped - I estimate - by at least 50% in the past 3 years. Not so smart after all... Scumware is exactly the same. It provides an edge to those who participate, so long as they are in a small minority. But as soon as others get a hint that there is a profit to be made, the bandwagon will gather speed and before long, no-one but the scumware providers will be any better off. It cannot be any other way because scumware does not generate a single extra sale for the market as a whole: all it does is divert traffic from one sponsor to another. Therefore every cent the scumware providers make, is straight off someone's bottom line: sponsors and affiliates alike. It is not just unethical to deal with scumware, it's plain dumb. That's the objective viewpoint and I guess I'm not too surprised that relatively few seem to understand it. What does surprise me is the willingness of so many people to deal with sponsors who by any normal definition, are stealing from them. I cannot imagine, for example, meeting a sponsor at a show and not wanting to smack him in the mouth if I knew he was stealing so much as a cent from me. A thief is a thief. I don't care whether he empties the cash drawer or just takes some small change. Last edited by jayeff; 11-05-2006 at 07:39 AM..